VET Printing

During a site visit May 4, 2010 to an abandoned printing facility at 27 Roosevelt Trail, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection found the company had stopped operating and employees were cutting up the metal machinery for scrap. DEP inspected the VET Printing facility for any possible remaining containers of hazardous wastes. The agency found a room that had been boarded up and hidden behind a row of file cabinets. The room was full of overflowing and leaking containers. An inventory of the hidden room included five 55-gallon drums, three 30-gallon drums and 80 to 100 5-gallon containers. In addition, there were multiple printing and photochemical containers of various sizes throughout the building and two 55-gallon drums with "hazardous waste" labels. On May 5, 2010, DEP asked EPA for help addressing the containers and other potential environmental hazards in and around the abandoned facility.

The privately-operated printing facility, which went out of business in the fall of 2009, published printed materials, including financial newsletters, music books, and town annual reports. The site contains a single-story wooden building on a concrete slab, formerly used as a print shop and encompasses about .25 acres. The building is bounded by commercial, residential and undeveloped land. The property slopes down about 10 feet toward a wooded area with wetlands and it is located within a significant aquifer area with the nearest surface water body, Thomas Pond, which drains into Sebago Lake, about 200 yards to the east. In addition, a drinking water well sits about 40 feet behind the building

Based on the findings from a May 18, 2010 visit, a review of DEP inspection reports and sample data, and documentation received from a contractor, EPA started a removal action. The cleanup began on Sept. 1, 2010 and all the containers of hazardous substances were consolidated in one room for transportation and disposal. Contractors collected soil samples from around the building and the sample analysis determined there were no hazardous substances above the DEP guidelines. The waste was removed for disposal on Oct. 14, 2010.

*The information contained on this website is merely informational; any dates found on the website cannot be relied upon to create any rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States. EPA reserves the right to change such dates at any time without public notice.